


The Consultation

by akire_yta



Series: prompt ficlets [417]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 14:16:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9328463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akire_yta/pseuds/akire_yta
Summary: preludeinz on tumblr requested "John and Penny, manicure date"





	1. Chapter 1

It was down in his schedule as “Consultation w/ Ldn Agent.”  

The fifteen-minute alert was showing on his watch as he stuffed the last of his notes into his satchel and took his leave of the last few professors and grad students who had hung around after his lecture to ask questions and show off their own research.  “Next appointment, I’m afraid,” he said apologetically, already heading for the door.

He didn’t want to be late.

“You’re late.”  Penny rose as he hurried into the elegantly appointed waiting area exactly twelve minutes later.

“I’m three minutes early,” he replied as he kissed her cheek in salutation.  As she sank back down onto the chaise longue, Sherbet already curled up and napping on damask fabric, John shrugged off the strap of his satchel and perched himself on the edge of the overstuffed armchair opposite.  “Three whole minutes, Pen.”

She winked at him, her fingers lightly stroking Sherbert’s small head.  “Here, darling, that is tantamount to being late.  I almost had to make apologies for you, and you know how much I hate that.  A gentleman should always be at least five minutes early, none of this cutting it close business.”

“Close counts in horseshoes and hand-grenades,” he quipped, letting the almost forgotten Kansas drawl seep back into his voice.  

She rolled her eyes fondly.  “By the way, I’m a _consultation_  now?”

John settled back more comfortably, smiling his appreciation as an attendant hurried in with a china teacup on a silver tray.  He inhaled the faintly lemon-scented steam and let Penny stare at him a moment longer.  “Gordon was snooping.  He gets touchy every time he sees your name on my schedule now.  I figured a puzzle would do him good.”

Penny looked him right in the eye.  “You, John Tracy, are a troll,” she murmured, but she sounded amused.  “Also, your puzzle had him sending me a dozen texts in as many minutes.” John observed the high flush on her cheeks and chose to sip his tea instead.  “Oh look,” she added.  “I think they’re ready for us now.”

The staff at  _Mains et pieds de dame_ were used to service with discretion – their clientele included diplomats and princesses, and the two who came in, irregularly but always together, aroused no suspicion as they were whisked through to the treatment room.

Only once they were settled comfortably, feet and hands soaking, did John speak again.  “So, you and Gordon…?”

“Only finish that question,” Penny said briskly, her fingers combing through the treatment soak.  “If you want all the gory, messy, X-rated details.”

John laughed.  “Consider the question retracted.”

“Excellent,” Penny purred, settling down once more.  “Now, tell me how your talk went.”  They chatted about inconsequential things as, around them, the uniformed staff flittered like butterflies, trimming and brushing and massaging and buffing.

Penny usually talked him into putting polish on his toes.  She didn’t have to work very hard for it.  John took a moment to appreciate the pale sky blue on his toes before he tugged his socks and shoes back on and gathered his things.

“Can I convince you to take me to tea at the Grand too?” she asked.  This was part of the Consultation too.

John held out his arm.  She rested her hand, now perfectly manicured, nails a pale shell-pink, on his forearm as she leaned into him.  “You know,” he said as he escorted her down to street level.  “Gordon would probably enjoy getting purple nails.”

“Do you think?” Penny asked casually.  But John knew his best friend, could almost see the cogs in her brilliant brain starting to whir.

“I do,” John said.  “You should ask him along next time.”  Gordon would owe him, but that was nothing new between brothers.  Opening the door for Penny, they stepped back out into the world.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> and then tenjournotora on tumblr reblogged this and added "Please do another one where either Alan or Gordon discover John’s painted toes!!! XD XD XD XD " and this is what resulted

>  

Usually Gordon has the pool to himself, but when John’s down from rotation, he tended to be in the water even earlier than Gordon.  Gordon dumped his towel next to John’s on the lounger and sat on the edge, letting his body adjust to the temperature before he slid into the water.

John continued his laps, but rolled gracefully onto his back, never breaking stroke as he acknowledged Gordon’s presence.  The movement turned into a textbook flip turn, and John accelerated down the lane in easy movements that ate up the distance.

Gordon started his own routine in the next lane, finding the headspace that let him go at his own pace rather than race the person in the next lane.  A succession of coaches all had to fight Gordon’s innate instinct to race even in training, and they mostly had succeeded.

But he was aware when John stopped, and Gordon slid to a halt next to where John was casually hanging off the edge of the pool.  “Morning,” John said in greeting, only slightly out of breath.

“Morning yourself.  When did you get in from the mainland?”  Gordon asked, draping himself over the lane dividers.

“Last night.  And I’m back up to Five tonight, so you get your pool back.”

Gordon shrugged, setting off ripples through the water.  “Eh, I can lower myself to sharing the water with you.  You at least don’t try to cannonball me when I’m doing pacing splits.”

That gets a laugh out of John.  “Tell Alan he gets a cookie if he lands on you.  Oh, and by the way?  Penny says hi.”

Gordon has never figured out exactly how Penny and John worked, and for years, he could now admit to himself, there was a faint streak of jealousy there every time they’d gone off together.  Now that he knew what Penny’s lipstick tasted like, however, he felt far more relaxed about the uncertainty.  “She does, huh?  You two talking about me?”

John rolled his eyes, but he was smiling.  “Gossiping like school girls.  Don’t worry,” he added, flicking some water at Gordon’s face.  “I warned her you snore like a warthog.”  He pushed off the wall and ducked under the lane divider, heading for the stairs.

Gordon ducked under, closing the gap between them in a few easy strokes to pop up right next to John.  “So I’m what you were ‘consulting’ about,” he asked, making the airquotes with his fingers.  “Good to know.”

John just laughed.  “Whatever helps you sleep at night,” he said, hauling on the rail to bring himself out of the water.

Gordon blinked as an out-of-place colour caught his eye.  “John, why are your toenails purple?”

John lifted a leg and wiggled his toes.  “Because I like purple?” John asked uncertainly.

“Okay, that explains the colour, but not the nail polish itself?”

John snatched up their towels and tossed Gordon’s at his head.  “Because a pedicure deserves to be polished off?”

Gordon frowned.  “Does this have something to do with Lady P?”

John rubbed his face dry and grinned over the towel at Gordon.  “Fair warning.  I told her you’d prefer something in a light blue.”

John left Gordon sitting on the edge of the pool, contemplating his unpainted toenails thoughtfully.


End file.
